


Love Thy (Number) Neighbor

by orphan_account



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, M/M, Number Neighbor Trend, Panic Attacks, Shrunkyclunks, the writer basically has no idea what she's doing and she's sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-08-10 08:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20132698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Bucky woke up this morning and saw the Number Neighbor trend on Twitter, and yes, the first thing he does every morning upon opening his eyes is to check his phone, but at this day and age, who doesn't? Anyway, he just wanted to make friends with his number neighbor like most of the screenshots he's seen online but he gets roasted by this child instead.Well, he might as well try the number that comes before his. He's already got dissed by one, what's the worst that could happen?





	1. BNN

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Now that I'm posting this, I feel like it's very stupid. lol
> 
> Anyway, I've caught a few tweets about this trend on my timeline last Sunday and saw a couple of tweets that eventually turned into this fic. The links to said tweets would be in the end notes. Idk why I'm separating it. lol I'm sorry I don't know what I'm doing.
> 
> I hope this works out. I had fun drafting this at work 😂😂😂
> 
> Alsooo, I'm not the most perfect at grammar and stuff, I only have Grammarly to help me with this. 🙏

_ hey, number neighbor! how's it going? _

** _what's a number neighbor?_ **

** _who dis????_ **

_ i'm your number neighbor, same number but im -1 last digit than u _

_ it's trending on twitter now. _

** _okayyyy_ **

** _how old are you?_ **

_ 23, hbu? _

** _14\. you mean you're 23 but you're doing an internet challenge_ **

** _😂😂😂_ **

_ fair enough. _

_ well, have a good day kid. _

Bucky blocked the number instantly.

He woke up this morning and saw the trend on Twitter, and yes, the first thing he does every morning upon opening his eyes is to check his phone, but at this day and age, who doesn't? Anyway, he just wanted to make friends with his number neighbor like most of the screenshots he's seen online but he gets roasted by this child instead.

He took a screenshot of the conversation and posted it on his feed anyway, making sure to scratch out their numbers, 'cause even with a bruised ego, the exchange was still funny.

Well, he might as well try the number that comes before his. He's already got dissed by one, what's the worst that could happen?

_ hiya, number neighbor! wat u up 2? _

**Good morning. Number neighbor? I'm not sure I understand. Who's this?**

_ number neighbor - it's an internet thing _

_ it's a trend on twitter now _

_ jut thought i try it out _

_ basically we have the same number but im +1 on the last digit _

**Oh, okay. I'm not on the internet.**

_ pretty cool huh? _

**Well I mean, I think I am.**

**On the internet. In general. But I'm not on Twitter. **

_ who doesn't have a twitter? don't tell me you're still on myspace. _

_ 😂😂😂 _

**How did you get this number?**

**Oh, never mind, it just clicked. Same number, except for the last one. Got it.**

_ hehe ur funny _

_ hey how old are you if you don't mind me asking? _

_ ur not like a nerdy middle schooler who types out their texts right? jk _

_ (i dont wanna be terrorizing another minor) _

**Boy, you type fast.**

Bucky stared at that last text and the three dots that are currently shuffling as his BNN(Better Number Neighbor) types. He's not expecting to be hit by his kink this early in the morning but here we are. He suppressed the shiver that wanted to roll down his spine because this is just weird. He doesn't even know this person! BNN doesn't even mean it that way!

Damn, he needs to get laid. Soon.

Bucky jumped a little when he received the next message. A chunky block of it.

**To answer your questions, no I'm not on myspace. I've heard a friend mentioned that but I'm still not sure what it does.**

**In normal years, I just turned 33.**

**And no, I'm not a nerdy middle schooler** **and**** there's nothing wrong with typing out my sentences with correct spelling and grammar, just so you know.**

_ lol ur still a nerd _

_ and fyi i just type like this cos im lazy but i kow my grammar and spellign! _

**Sure you do 😉**

**How about you? How old are you?**

A WINKY FACE. HE CAN'T BE SERIOUS.

_ im 23. _

_ hey wait wait 'normal years'? what's up with that???? _

_ did u fall asleep for a like a 100 years like sleepig beauty and woke up just now? _

**Oh good, you're of age.**

_ OF AGEEEE. that's only 10 yrs you have on me. _

_ can't say i mind tho 😉 _

_ damn ur such an old man. _

_ or woman _

_ or non binary _

_ this is a no judgemnt zone we're cool here _

**Yeah, I guess you could say Sleeping Beauty and I share the same story.**

**I'm a man. You?**

_ Gayest gay to ever gay _

_ my roommate wade would say that's debatable but im sure im pretty gayyy _

_ hope that doesn't bother you _

**We're cool. As you said, this is a no-judgment zone.**

Just as Bucky finished reading the last message of his number neighbor, a loud knock rattles his door. "Bucky! If you don't want to be late, you should be getting your cute ass off your bed and into the shower right this second."

Oh shit. He checked the time and see that he only has a little over 20 minutes to get ready and get out of their apartment.

_ hey bnn i gotta run. im gonna be late for work. _

Bucky will not admit that he waited for about a minute for his number neighbor to reply and that he kinda felt sad when he didn't get one, but he will accept his defeat with his duvet when he tripped and fell to his knees when Wade knocked on his bedroom door again demanding him to get out of his room already.

**Sorry, I got called out by my teammates about texting too much and had to put my phone down for another round of sparring.**

**I don't really text a lot and they are the only ones on my contact list anyway, so they find it curious that I'm texting someone not them.**

**And if it makes any difference, I'm bisexual. **

**What's BNN?**

**You're probably in the shower now.**

**Not that I'm thinking about you in the shower. 🙈**

**I'm sorry for sending a lot of messages.**

**I think you've influenced me in sending every thought I have into each text.**

**Anyway, I hope you have a great time at work! 😊☺**

Bucky didn't have time to reply to the recent messages he received 'cause Wade's already holding the door open and waiting for him. But it still made him smile that he's affecting the texting habits of his BNN.

Wade is cool. He volunteered to let Bucky hitch a ride on his old Vespa and spare him the 3-block walk to the nearest subway station every morning since it's on the way to his work place anyway and in return, Bucky buys them pizza for dinner once a week.

He didn't get to reply once he's on the train to Manhattan either since it's packed and there's no reception anyway. So when he emerged from the station, Bucky moved to the side and stood beneath an awning to type out a quick reply.

_ sparring? u box or smth? _

_ ehhhh 🌈🌈🌈 _

_ oh bnn is better number neighbor _

_ i'll tell u that one ltr im currently trying not to be crushed in a sea of pedestrians _

_ tbh tho im kinda getting tired of calling u bnn in my head. if you wanna tell me ur name that'd be cool. _

_ im bucky btw _

_ and im totally not against u thinking about me nAKED and WET okayyyy😉😉😉 _

_ we cool man. i gotta get to work tho. _

_ dont stop txting me but i'll text u latr, k? _

_ 😘 _

Bucky tucked his phone inside his bag and surged forward and make his way through the morning rush of New Yorkers. He didn't feel his phone vibrate in his bag with his number neighbor's immediate responses to his last messages he sent as he rush to get to work on time.

**I know a handful of different fight styles.**

**I'm a better number neighbor? Wow, I'm flattered! Please tell me how I earned the title! 😁**

**My name is Steve. It's nice to meet you, Bucky.**

**Have fun at work!**

Then about five minutes later.

**AND PLEASE STOP PUTTING IMAGES IN MY HEAD. 😉😇😆** ****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the formatting is hard to read. And that the messages are not chronological(?) I tried making it like Bucky's a hella fast typer and Steve can't quite keep up.
> 
> Here are the tweets that I saw:
> 
> https://twitter.com/EricBilleter_25/status/1157479330332762112?s=19  
https://twitter.com/Hooverr/status/1157734911681486848?s=19
> 
> Other things to note:  
\- I've read this about 50 times now and I'm hella sure this doesn't sound like them anymore *sigh*  
\- um, can you tell how scared I am to post this? haha but I like it tho and I'm excited to post it.  
\- This might be the only part I put out for this, I still have further plans for it but I'm scaaared. I think this is pretty open ended where I left it and I could leave it at that? But I can still continue it y'know? Anyway I'm leaving the chapter count unknown for now if I decided to add further chapter/s or not.
> 
> I'M REALLY SORRYYYY 🙏


	2. It Is You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were all huddled excitedly talking about the recently concluded presentation when someone tentatively cleared their throat behind them. Bucky looked over his shoulder and saw Captain America standing sheepishly and running his hands at the back of his head. And maybe Bucky choked on his own spit a little seeing such huge bicep flexing but it's okay 'cause he hid it behind a cough. It's Darcy who acknowledged him first.
> 
> "Steve!" She greeted him with a wave.
> 
> "Hi, Darcy," Steve greeted back smiling at her and she outright giggled, Bucky would look at Darcy but he's too busy gaping at that smile.
> 
> _His name is Steve, huh. _
> 
> Well, Bucky knew that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm back and I've finally finished this new chapter! I just finished writing the last part and I'm very excited to post it just like last time even though the rest took forever. But that's alright, I had fun anyway. 
> 
> I have added a new tag for this(panic attack) and it's also my first fill for my Stucky Bingo 2019 card, this is because Bucky will encounter one in this chapter. If you would like to skip that, it will start after Maria Hill finished their call("Good. That'll be all, Mr. Barnes. Good luck.") until Bucky has gone through it(He lost track of time).
> 
> I want to thank all of those who have read the first chapter especially those who have commented and encouraged me to continue with the story. This won't be the last chapter still, halfway through, my brain supplied several scenarios I can add, so there would be at least 2 chapters more. I'm not sure when I will be able to post it though. 😅
> 
> Grammarly is the real mvp lol all mistakes are still mine tho.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this new one. 😄

  
Bucky got to the Avengers Tower, went through security, straight to the elevator bays and got into one that will take him to the Research and Development floor. He's been working on a joint project with Stark Industries and Black Panther Technologies for almost three months now for a new textile he started developing since college.

The development of his material has been complete for his thesis presentation before he graduated. It's a filament that you can fashion from standard work suit overalls that resist various chemicals that the working class encounters to a promising replacement for kevlar. It's a pretty sturdy material and Bucky's quite proud of it.

He's now working on integrating his textile with the Vibranium that BP Tech provides to further strengthen the material for superhero stuff and potential space voyages as he's been told. He's closely working with the head of R&D in BP Technologies, Shuri, who's the most brilliant 18-year-old Bucky's ever met. Both because of a lot of tech she's developed for their company at a young age and because she sends Bucky a lot of memes while she's away looking over her other ongoing projects.

They're coming to the end of their venture, Bucky and Shuri just need to do a presentation for the textile by the end of the week to the heads of both companies. He's confident with what he and Shuri have done, he just pretty nervous about the presentation in particular but he can't pinpoint why. He's usually good at giving out presentations, especially something he's particularly proud of, especially this one(his baby, his life's work, his bread and butter, okay he'll stop). And he's met Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts and T'Challa several times over the course of this project, so that's not it either. Bucky thought it may have something to do with his previous employer before SI/BP Tech but he doesn't want to think about that now.

  
He shook his head to get rid of the feeling as he got off the elevator and he's greeted by an enthusiastic "Bucky!" from the brunette manning the reception desk on this floor.

"Mornin', Darcy. Please tell me I'm not late," he said as he reached for the coffee cup that Darcy offered him. He took a sip and released a sigh.

  
"You're not late," she paused and smirked, "If you got here 5 minutes ago."

"Darce!"

  
"I'm kidding! You got here with 3 minutes to spare. But I got a note from Maria Hill, said she needs you to call and check in with her when you get in."

"Oh no, why?" He slumped on the marble counter, Ms. Hill's the one who overlooks this project on the SI side, Bucky's kinda intimidated of her but only because he knows she's very efficient with her job.

"Don't know, but you'll tell me after your call, right?" Darcy patted his head gently.

  
"Okay," he looked up to regard her with a smile, he stepped away to the desk and slowly made his way into R&D. "Thanks for the coffee!"

"Anything for you, Bucky Boo!" She cooed at him.

"None of that!" He narrowed his eyes at her but ended up laughing instead when she made a face at him.

Darcy's a good egg. Bucky met her about a month into working in the Tower, said she might as well get paid while Dr. Jane Foster is off-world with Thor. She told him at length how she got on with Dr. Foster and sometimes you really end up not doing a thing that's related to your major in college but she enjoys it nonetheless. Adventuring with Space Princes? Count her in! She's got her taser ready, no problem.

Bucky made his way to his lab, greeting Mary Jane and Teddy as he passed them by. The lights automatically turned on as he stepped into his space, also booted up his computers and filled the glass window that shows the city with the current data on the project he's working on.

"Good morning, Mr. Barnes," said a feminine voice coming from the ceiling.

"Hey, Victoria. How's everything?" Bucky got really excited when he first encountered the A.I., he felt years ahead into the future and he and Vic have gotten a good rapport going in the months he's been working here.

  
"We're all good, Bucky. Your latest modifications with the filament are still proving to be stable. I also took the liberty to test them with different agents and amounts of force. They were able to show the same outstanding results that we have gathered from the other tests we conducted in the past week. Your material is as perfect as it can be."

"Can't be too sure about anything, Vic. But thank you, I appreciate it," he murmured, suddenly shy from the compliment even if it's coming from an A.I. Sometimes Bucky thinks that Stark's invention has passed the Turning Test 10 times over. "Oh hey, please contact Ms. Hill for me."

"Sure, Bucky," he heard the dial tone as he looks over the latest report that's up on the screens.

  
"Hill," she said in greeting once the call connected.

"Hi, Ms. Hill, Darcy said to give you call?"

"Yeah, I'm here to let you know that the presentation for your research has been moved to later this afternoon," Ms. Hill laid on him as she shuffles some paperwork on her desk, not one to waste time. "I know this isn't scheduled until the day after tomorrow but Shuri's schedule has changed to accommodate other commitments in Wakanda and she'll be here this afternoon. Victoria said that you're beyond ready to show off your invention?"

He can only nod in acknowledgment to her question, more like a statement really. Bucky can already feel his palms sweating.

"That's good to hear. Tony insists to be there, a few of the Avengers have expressed their interest in your material and would like to be there as well. Ms. Potts would be there too, along with a couple of representatives from BP Tech, T'Challa won't be there as he's needed back in Wakanda. Are you alright, Mr. Barnes?

"Ye-yeah, I'm good," he gulped then, "just thinking ahead. Would there be anything else I need to know?"

"I think we're good. We've already gone over the manner of demonstration the last time we met with Shuri and I have nothing to amend with that. I apologize if this is brief, but I have a ton of other stuff to do."

  
"No problem. I'll get started on the um, the prep.. and stuff."

"Good. That'll be all, Mr. Barnes. Good luck." The video cut off after Ms. Hill gave him a final nod.

Bucky made his way to his desk chair and slowly lowered himself, he braced his elbows on his knees and ran his hands through his hair, already feeling his breathing deepen and getting labored.

  
He took three steadying breaths to fend off the worry that's slowly setting into his bones. He tried to stand up and go over the files he have and start preparing the presentation for this afternoon but after a few minutes he noticed that he's already let the reins off on his thoughts and his brain is running a hundred miles a minute and oh god what if they don't like it, what if everything goes wrong, what if it happens again, what happened with his former employers... he can't lose another arm, no he—

He tried his best to inhale a gulp of air and put a hand on the surface nearest him to anchor himself while clutching his left arm close to his chest. When he managed to put some air in his lungs by some miracle or other, he rasped, "Vic, please call Darcy."

"Right away, Bucky. It's going to be okay," Victoria complied and thankfully frosted the walls of his lab so that no one on the outside can see how he's breaking down.

His knees gave out on him and he fell catching himself on his hands. Seeing his flesh and Vibranium hand prompted another onslaught of fear to course through his body, his lungs trying to catch up with the air that seems to be just a tad bit out of reach.

Bucky heard the door of his lab open and he lifted his head to see a form coming in. He remembered the silhouette of firemen looming over him and he swore he's back there, can feel the scorching heat of the fire—

  
"Hey, you asked for me?" Darcy didn't even finish her question when she saw Bucky on the floor and she's already on her way to him.

"Darce, I can't breathe," he said as he reached out his right hand to her, she's there to clasp his hand to hers and place it on her chest, his left hand propped loosely on his lap.

"Okay, here. Breathe with me." They worked through his panic attack, Bucky focusing on getting his breath back and Darcy whispering encouragements to him and running her other hand to his right arm in time with their breathing after he allowed it when he saw her hand hovering. "You're doing good, Buck. You're safe. I'm here, you're safe."

He lost track of time, don't know how long they've been kneeling on the floor, but he was able to get his breathing in control and now he can feel the exhaustion settling onto his body like a veil. He squeezed Darcy's hand and slowly let go, maneuvering himself so that he's lying flat on his back, Darcy sitting crossed-legged beside him.

"This sucks," he carefully rubbed at his eyes, wiping away the remaining tears.

"It sure does," Bucky felt her poke him gently on his shoulder, "Hey, come here?"

"Hmm?" She didn't say anything and just patted her lap, her face softened with the offer. Bucky moved his body and gently deposited his head on her lap. 

"Can I run my hands through your hair?" She did so as she asked when he gave a small nod. What a godsend, Darcy is. Her light strokes and scratches calmed him even more.

"It's the presentation," he stated in a whisper. "Ms. Hill said we had to do it this afternoon and I remembered what happened. To my arm. I wasn't ready when my supervisors in the previous company insisted I had to present the material, they got too eager, said they wanted to test it themselves. The fire caught on quick, it was everywhere too fast, Darce. They got out but it's my research and everything's on fire and I didn't know what to do."

  
"You're safe now, Bucky," he gave Darcy a tiny smile and she kept stroking his hair.

"That's how I got the arm, y'know," he unbuttoned the sleeve on his left arm and pushed it to his elbow where the Vibranium arm started. "Shuri and her brother were too kind to take me in and gave me this, Shuri's the first person to take notice of my invention after college but I didn't take the offer since Wakanda's too far. They still had to take me there though, to put on the arm. Should've taken her offer in the first place, could've avoided lots of hell and suffering."

"None of it's your fault, sweetie. It must be terrible, but I'm very proud of how far you've come."

"Thank you, Darcy." Bucky got up from where he's lying down. "It's just that... I'm worried that the same thing would happen and that it's not ready and I will fail."

Darcy nodded her understanding that he feels that way, "You've been working hard for this, and Shuri's approved of it too and she loves it so much. Buck, I'm sure they'll love it too." When he just shrugged and looked down to fiddle with the ends of his pants, Darcy continued, "Okay, can I hug you?"

She moved in when he nodded and enveloped him in a gentle hug. "It sucks that you feel this way, but Shuri and I are here to help and cheer for you, yeah?

"We've all hung out in an out of this office, you guys mostly since I'm not allowed inside this lab most of the time— shit Bucky I'm not allowed in this lab!" They shared a laugh at that thought. "But as I was saying, you totally got this and Stark and the Avengers are gonna love your super indestructible superhero textile."

"Oh Darce, you're really a gem," he gave her another squeeze and sat up from her hug, he wiped the last of his tears and gave her a big smile of thanks.

"You're welcome and thank you for telling me this. What do you say, let's take an early lunch?"

"Dude, I just got here." Both of them chuckled at that.

  
"Well, if you happen to come by my desk in 20 minutes, there would be fresh doughnuts."

  
"You are the best there is."

"I try." She shrugged and continued, "Are you gonna be okay? I'll be here if you need me, okay?"

After he nodded on both of her questions, she opened the door to go back to the front desk.

\---

  
Bucky took his time and centered himself before doing anything else. He went to the little break room they have to sort out his tea and watched some cat videos when he got back to his lab. He did visit Darcy after half an hour and true to her word, she's got fresh doughnuts, two boxes of them. After they shared the doughnuts with the Mary Jane, Teddy and Kate, Bucky went back to his lab to see if there's anything else he needed to do before their presentation.

After he's been assured by Victoria that everything is ready for their presentation, Bucky sat down on his chair and took another deep breath. Things took a turn for the worst so early in the morning but it's looking up and that's all that Bucky could ask for.

He felt his phone vibrate in his bag by his feet where he put it on the floor and he bent down to take it out. Two messages flashed on his screen, one from Shuri saying she'll be in the Tower in a couple of hours and the other message is from Steve with an image attached.

Bucky unlocked his phone and sent a quick reply to Shuri about how he can't wait to see her.

When he opened Steve's message, he's greeted by a plateful of breakfast food; sausages, a mountain of bacon, two kinds of eggs, toast and there's also a fruit bowl in the background. The photo is captioned, "Elevensies. 😋" and Bucky could only admire the appetite of this person.

_Wow! Is it really your third meal for the day?_

_The bacon looks so good omg._

_   
_

_Here's me and my tea_

  
Bucky loves this mug. Becca, his sister, had it delivered to his apartment one morning with a note saying that it reminds it of him and his arm and that she misses him so much. He instantly washed it and had it filled with tea, he then sent a selfie of him drinking from it to Becca with the caption, "miss you too becca. i love this so much ♥"

_i ate 2 strawberry doughnuts, i know it's not the best breakfast food but it feels my heart with jooooyyy_

**Can't say I approve of your breakfast choice.**  


_my friend bought it for me! i had a bad morning _ 😩

**What happened?**

** If you don't mind me asking.**  


  


_oh i had a panic attack_ 😢😢😢,_ i have a presentation to give later._

_Caught a bad morning, but I'm doing good now._

**Those suck.  
But I'm glad to hear that you're doing okay now.  
I'm sure you'll do great with your presentation!**

  
Bucky kept texting with Steve, they talked about the most random things, about their favorite food(Steve's is his friend's mom's gumbo and Bucky's is his mom's lamb stew), about what they did the previous weekend(Eating said gumbo/Bucky went out to Prospect Park and sat under the shade of a tree, which is better than dying in the heat of his apartment), about what their currently binging on Netflix, etc. Steve's watching a nature documentary for some reason and Bucky's making his way through Brooklyn 99 for the third time. (That's not what Netflix is for Steve!)

They kept texting well into Bucky's lunchtime where Darcy kept asking who's he texting since he was all "heart eyes" and smiling.

"No one. It's just my number neighbor," Bucky shrugged as he took a bite of his grilled cheese sandwich.

"Buck." Darcy reached over the table to stop him from taking another bite. "Your number neighbor is underage, I saw your tweet."

He chuckled at the alarmed expression on her face, "No, no! Darcy this is a different one. He's the number before me. He's 33 and he's name is Steve."

Darcy smirked at the smile on his face when he said his name, "Steve, huh? Well, is Steve hot? He kinda has an old man's name."

"Well, he is old."

"Not that old though."

"I don't know yet," answering Darcy question of whether he's hot. "He's pretty cool, though and he's good to talk to."

"Okay. Just don't get scammed. Steve sound like a telemarketer's name too."

"Darcy!"

They continued eating and talking about Steve and other stuff. After eating lunch and when he got back to his lab, he kept texting Steve.

Bucky didn't realize that they've been texting for quite some time until there's a knock on his door and he's greeted with Shuri's smiling face. They hugged and Shuri squeezed him something fierce before they parted. She told him that Darcy told her what happened and she gave his shoulder a firm squeeze and said, "We got this, Bucky. You got this."

Hearing that from her cast all the remaining doubts he has. They made their way to the conference room to the finishing preparations before their presentation in half an hour. Wow, did time fly. Bucky messaged Steve again, letting him know that he's about to do his presentation.

_have to stop texting you for a little while stevie_

_about tio do my presentation now_

_thanks for taking my mind off of my bad morning_

**Hey, I'm glad I could help.  
I enjoyed talking with you.**  


_look i'm typing with relatively good grammar and spelling_

_are you proud of me?_

**Sure am, kid.  
I have to go to a meeting myself. I'll text you later and you can tell me how it went, yeah?  
Good luck on your presentation, Buck.  
Already proud of you. xx**

  
Sure am, kid???  
Buck???  
Already proud of you???  
And two kisses???

  
_What are we?_ Bucky's brain supplied and he's clearly distracted 'cause the next thing he knew he was bumping into Shuri. He looked up from his phone and he can see that they already made it to the conference room. A long mahogany table ran the length of the room and there are about ten chairs that surrounded it.

Bucky looked at Shuri with his struck expression from when he read the last texts from Steve, Shuri cocked her head to the side, a look of confusion and amusement on her face, "You doing okay, Bucky?"

  
"Yeah." He swallowed, why does Steve keep texting him like this? "Yeah, I'm good. Let's set up?"

But there's nothing to set up because there are files in front of every chair that's around the table and their sample suits were already set up at the front of the room, there's coffee brewing by the back and all Bucky can think of was how Steve probably didn't mean it the way he wanted it to mean.

What did Bucky want it to mean?

God, he really needs to get laid. But Steve's really nice and he's so kind and thoughtful and funny and... Bucky shook his head to clear it, he's only been texting this guy for one morning. But he feels so good talking with him.

"Bucky!" He whipped his head too fast to where Darcy's entering the room, his mug on her hand. "I brought you some tea."

  
"Thanks so much, Darcy," he exhaled, he needs to focus on their presentation first and maybe think about Steve later. Maybe. "I needed this."

They smiled at each other and Darcy went to talk to Shuri. Bucky sipped his tea carefully and let it calm his belly full of butterflies and nervousness.

After a while, people started filtering into the conference room. He and Shuri greeted them and shook their hands as they settled in their seat. Bucky, the nerd that he is, blushed when Ms. Potts smiled at him as she wished him good luck.

"Where're my golden children!" Every one of them startled a little bit when Tony Stark himself, who else, entered the room. Bucky and Shuri rolled their eyes at each other and faced Tony, he made his way to them with open arms as if to hug them but stopped when they're about 2 feet apart. "I've heard from Friday how you guys have worked hard and are now ready to send us over the moon? Both literally and figuratively! I love my brainchildren!" He declared to the room.

"They're hardly your brainchildren, Tony," Ms. Potts chastised with a smile from where she's seated by the head of the table, "Come sit with me now, hm?"

The enormous grin on Tony's face didn't falter, he's clearly buzzing from the excitement, he gave them one final squeal(yup, _the _Tony Stark squealed, will wonder ever cease?) and went over to where Ms. Potts was seated.

Bucky then noticed that a bunch of other people has entered the room, he had to gulp a couple of times because oh my god there's Black Widow, Hawkeye, Falcon, and even War Machine! Barring Mr. Rhodes since he has the iron suit, these people would be wearing the suits made from his and Shuri's reinforced fabric for most, if not all, combat situations they'll be in. Bucky's breath has stopped as he thought about that, but this one's a good reaction and not a bad one, unlike earlier. He felt really excited and very proud of himself.

He released the breath he was holding but instantly had to inhale once again when Captain America entered the room. So Bucky has a crush on the Captain, didn't everybody? And he's sure that any human faced with the Captain wearing what appears to be the bottom half of his uniform with a very tight Underarmour shirt can help themselves from inhaling enough oxygen to make themselves a little lightheaded.

He noticed that the other Avengers present were wearing something similar to the Captain's and Bucky guessed they've come from training or something. He didn't have more time to think about it since Darcy's already closing the door and they started the presentation.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Shuri greeted, her confidence and excitement coming through, "I'm Shuri and this is my partner, James." She winked at him when she said his name and he rolled his eyes at her, she's done that for all the other initial presentations they had to do beforehand. She then continued to introduce their research, how it came to be(Bucky blushed a lot when she waxed poetry about how he made the filament himself, etc.) and how they've decided to integrate it with Vibranium to make it better and indestructible.

As his cue to present neared, he took a sip of his tea and saw the motion attract the gaze of Captain America. It took everything in him to keep himself from choking when he saw the Captain's eyebrow twitched akin to recognition. Bucky doesn't know what's that about but now he's thinking about how Captain America will remember him as the guy drinking from a cat mug. Well, there goes his zero chances of every dating the guy. He mentally rolled his eyes at himself, then balked a little when the tea bag touched his lips, he's finished his tea.

It's time to present anyway. He stood when Shuri called him and went right into it.

"Hey, guys, we'll move on the demonstration part of the presentation." He flashed them a smile and motioned to Darcy to dim the lights. "I'll show you some of the footage we have of the testings we did with the material before I let you have at it with the sample suit we have here."

He started the footage and went on to explain about which chemical they're testing it against, how much force they were exerting and such. They also tested it with both a simulated space environment and have sent the material out in space, and he showed them the results of these experiments getting nods of approval from various heads he's seeing as shadows in the dark room.

When the last of the footage has played and the lights have turned back on, he encouraged the Avengers to try testing the durability of suit.

What happened next was too fast for his brain to catch up with, but there was something that whipped by a couple of meters from him, a dull thud and a clatter of what turns out to be a knife, which was now on the floor in front of the mannequin.

He looked back from the table to see Black Widow's arm extended, an amused expression on her face while she lets out a soft and satisfied, "huh."

"That... Well, that's one way to do it.," he smiled at Ms. Romanoff and continued, "you'll feel a bit of the force from the throw but mostly the Vibranium threaded with the filament will absorb the brunt of it and as you can see, the suit sustained no damage."

That encouraged the rest to stand up and examine the suit closely, but it wasn't very long when they expressed their approval of it. A few minutes later, everyone in the room agreed that it would be best to try it on themselves while training and eventually wear it to an actual fight.

They adjourned the meeting then and he got to shook hands with the Avengers(!!!). Each of them praised their work and Bucky was as red as a tomato as the compliments kept coming.

"You're a genius, Barnes," Falcon— Mr. Wilson said as he clapped Bucky's back, "this will surely help with keeping this one injure free for the most part." He gestured towards Captain America— Captain Mr. Rogers Sir, who's coming up behind him.

"Thanks, Sam," the Captain said, a bit exasperated but he's smiling at his friend. "But your invention is really something, Mr. Barnes, Shuri."

Captain America Mr. Rogers Sir shook their hands as he said this and Bucky can't help but look up and stare at him. He's several inches taller than Bucky and damn, his eyelashes are long.

"Thanks, Captain," Shuri elbowed him, in true fashion of a friend who knows that their friend has a_ little_ crush on someone. "We look forward to the next phase of this project and working _closely _with you."

Bucky cleared his throat before saying, "Y-yeah, thank you, Captain Rogers, sir." Bucky winced and sighed internally but he didn't have more time to think about it because they were suddenly being wrapped into a hug by Tony.

"I cannot be any more proud of both of you. You guys are the best!" Tony exclaimed very loudly by their ears. Thankfully he let them go before announcing that everybody's invited to dinner later on the communal floor. "But since it's too early for dinner, we'll have drinks! Except for you two, you're not legal."

Shuri just rolled her eyes at Tony while Bucky exclaimed, "I'm of age, Tony!"

"Sure you are," he winked at Bucky, "Come on folks, let's move the party upstairs!"

As Tony made his way to the door, he patted Captain Rogers on his shoulders and said something to him, but Bucky noticed that the Captain was looking at him instead of Tony. Bucky promptly blushed under the gaze and looked away toward Shuri.

"We did it, Bucky!" She whispered excitedly before enveloping him in a hug.

"We did it!" He repeated with the same level of enthusiasm.

"Bucky! Shuri!" Darcy squealed their names while running into them to join in with the hugs, "I'm so damn proud of both of you."

They were all huddled excitedly and talking about the recently concluded presentation, recounting some of the highlights especially when Black Widow threw her knife at the suit, etc., when someone tentatively cleared their throat behind them. Bucky looked over his shoulder and saw Captain America standing sheepishly and running his hands at the back of his head. And maybe Bucky choked on his own spit a little seeing such huge biceps flexing but it's okay 'cause he hid it behind a cough. It's Darcy who acknowledged him first.

"Steve!" She greeted him with a wave.

"Hi, Darcy," Steve greeted back smiling at her and she outright giggled, Bucky would look at Darcy but he's too busy gaping at that smile.

_His name is Steve, huh._

Well, Bucky knew that. Everyone knows that. And he didn't spend all of eight grade pouring over his history textbooks to deliver a mediocre essay about the man himself. Steve Rogers. Steven Grant Rogers. 

Bucky suppressed a sigh. This guy's eyes are so damn blue, it's unfair. And that smile! Heavens help him.

"Uhm, I—," Steve coughed into his fist, looked at him and said, "Bucky?"

"Yeah?" He replied, cocking his head to the side like a puppy who was called by his name— _wait, what?!_

"Hi, it's me. It's Steve." He's Steve. And he's smiling at Bucky. And he's offering his hand for Bucky to shake. How the hell did Captain America know his nickname? _Whaaat?_

"Yeah, you are," Bucky replied, confused. Then they're shaking hands. Woah, the guy's hand completely covered Bucky's. And it's so warm. Quick! Don't think about how warm it would be if you're cuddling! Don't do it! "Y-you're Steve, Captain America S-steve."

_Steve _chuckled at his totally flustered expression. Bucky's definitely red as a tomato, he can feel his cheeks burning.

Still grasping Bucky's hand, Steve said something that Bucky never thought he would hear coming from Captain America, "I'm only a bit sure, but I think you're my Number Neighbor."

Bucky didn't see it since it felt like those scenes in the movies where the camera zooms in on the character and suddenly all focus is on him and he's just dumbstruck from what he heard, but Darcy slowly smiled and let out a surprised "Ah!" while Shuri looked at each of them with a confused expression asking, "what's a number neighbor?".

And _Steve_, with his dumb face and dumb raised eyebrows and his dumb smile, was just standing there looking at Bucky expectantly.

"No way," Bucky breathed out, Darcy tried to squeal quietly by his side(failing miserably) while Shuri was still confused. "Ahm— No, I... But _how_?"

"I probably guessed too quickly, but I saw your cat mug and I heard the girls calling you Bucky. It's probably not enough to confirm your identity but I made the connection anyway." Steve explained, shrugging those big dumb shoulders of his.

Bucky didn't reply, just reached for his phone inside his pocket, opened his message thread with Steve, well his Number Neighbor, and just typed, _Steve?_

A quiet ping sounded on the general direction of Steve and Captain America(_Captain America!!!_) pulled out his phone from his back pocket. Bucky never though someone can smile any wider, however, Steve did just that and he started typing.

A couple of seconds later, Bucky's phone vibrated and a new message popped up:

_Steve?_

**It is you. 😊**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! ♥


End file.
